Vallejo settles $5 million case after jury found retaliation against fire captain
A Solano County jury found the City of Vallejo unlawfully retaliated against former Fire Captain Melisse Leitzke, and the case later settled for $5 million before the damages phase.
A Solano County jury found the City of Vallejo unlawfully retaliated against former Fire Captain Melisse Leitzke after she complained of gender discrimination within the Vallejo Fire Department, according to a PR Newswire release dated Aug. 7, 2026. The release said the parties later settled the case for $5 million before the trial moved into a separate damages phase.
According to the release, the jury returned its liability verdict on July 31, 2026, in Leitzke v. City of Vallejo, Case No. 23-02170. Trial began July 14 in Department Eight of the Solano County Superior Court before the Hon. Wendy G. Getty.
The release said Leitzke began her Vallejo Fire Department career in January 2000 as a Firefighter/Paramedic, later became an Engineer and was promoted to Fire Captain in 2016. It also said she was one of only three female Fire Captains in Vallejo history.
Leitzke alleged that she was demoted in 2022 after what the release described as an unsubstantiated complaint of intentional misconduct from a fire scene. She also alleged that the city kept her on prolonged administrative leave after she filed an internal gender-discrimination complaint in November 2022.
The release quoted attorney Shelley A. Molineaux as saying the verdict confirmed that Vallejo retaliated against Leitzke for speaking out about gender discrimination. Molineaux said the city chose to resolve the case rather than continue the proceedings and said the result should encourage public employers to take discrimination and retaliation complaints seriously.
The release did not say whether the city admitted wrongdoing as part of the settlement.
With the settlement in place, the damages phase will not proceed. The release said the agreement resolves Leitzke’s claims.
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